Big printing question, please help.

Adam944 · Dec 29, 2003

I want to print large images, like wall size, on seperate sheets of paper, which I would then attach together. Each sheet would have a seperate piece of the picture, and then I would put them all together to make up the one big complete image. Kind of like a puzzle. How can I do this? I have Adobe and Arcsoft and can get whatever software I need and an HP 1200 series printer.

# = one part of the image, one piece of 8 x 11 paper

######
######
###### = the whole image, pieces attached

Thank you very much.

pilgrim · Dec 29, 2003

wow, thats a really cool idea. If some one can help yah out i'm gonna give that a try to! I would think you would just take each piece out of the full image and then print each of those off... if thats what you wanna do.. I think i'll wait for some one else to explain it. :lol:

Dew · Dec 29, 2003

i saw a software for that on ebay one late night of browsing .. i'll see if i can find it again

voodoocat · Dec 29, 2003

Well you could always plot it out in photoshop using guides. Then copy each cell and create a new document. Paste the contents and resize the image to A4 size. Obviously you are going to lose resolution unless you're scanning a large format image.

Then print each of them and put them together.

Tyjax · Dec 29, 2003

Well, I know how to do this in the darkroom but doing it in Pshop or some similar program is going to loose detail and/or become pixelated unless the original was high enough resolution. This is an interesting idea please keep us updated. If anyone wants to know how its done in the dark room give me a shout.
cheers and new years.

voodoocat · Dec 29, 2003

Tyjax said:
If anyone wants to know how its done in the dark room give me a shout.

Definately. I'm sure I could figure out a way by crunching #'s... but it'd be nice if you could explain it

Tyjax · Dec 30, 2003

Good Lord Voodoo, Im not gonna explain anything to you. You're ten times the photographer I am. :shock: I was just going to give the basic equasions to any first time darkroomers that wanted how I have done it. Nothing I could tell you thats new.

Adam944 · Dec 30, 2003

Dew- that software on Ebay is exactly where I first got the idea, but I was trying to find some other way of doing it, thinking it would be something I already have and just didn't realize I could do with my Adobe etc. software. This is the item:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2974652548&category=1467

It is called Xtreme Picture Companion Pro 6.0 by BCH Media. Is anyone familiar with this software or company? I cannot find any reviews of this product- the only stuff I can find about it is on Ebay (user feedback) which I can't access because I'm not a member and will have my friend use his account if I do decide to purchase it. It just kind of worries me that it's such a strong sales pitch and I can't find anywhere to purchase it without going through Ebay, but it's only like $12 plus $4 shipping so maybe I'll try it for the hell of it. Let me know what you guys think.

Thanx for everyones replys so far, I appreciate it. :wink:

Tyjax · Dec 30, 2003

Well, I looked at that listing on ebay. And the advertising method raised some questions with me too. As did that fact that the seller also seems to be selling some "finder ware" i.e. stuff that is freely available if you want to take the time to find it. Legal, but smarmy. However, that product looks like an acctual coded product by the screenshots. I would be be very leary of any "resolution" increasing algorithms they would claim. Photoshop as about the only proven technic for resolution increasing.(the old 10% fractal.) For 14 bucks I personally would take a pop at it and may do so out of curiousity. Ah well.

Adam944 · Dec 30, 2003

Well I bit the bullet and ordered it. My main concern is actually getting the product and the software living up to it's promises. If it works well and my only problem is the resolution, I will accept that and work on fixing that as I am acutely aware that the sharpness of the image will be my main obstacle once I can actually blow photos up with this software. I will let everyone know how well it works, or doesn't... :wink:

Face · Dec 30, 2003

Tyjax said:
Good Lord Voodoo, Im not gonna explain anything to you. You're ten times the photographer I am. :shock: I was just going to give the basic equasions to any first time darkroomers that wanted how I have done it. Nothing I could tell you thats new.

ok then... i'll ask how to do it. cuz i'm def. new.

drlynn · Jan 3, 2004

I think you might run into image quality problems if you blow up a print that much. To get photo quality on a print that size, the file would take up hundreds of MB of space. To cover an 8-foot high wall 11 feet long would require 144 8x10's. At 2MB each (probably a low figure for photo quality 8x10) you are looking at a 290MB picture file.

Most computers are going to bog down trying to manipulate an image file that large, not to mention the fact that it will be difficult or impossible to get an enlargement from 1 35mm or even medium format to look decent at that size.

One possible solution would be to take multiple pictures of the scene you want and stitching them together as a type of panorama.

Good luck!!

voodoocat · Jan 3, 2004

drlynn said:
I think you might run into image quality problems if you blow up a print that much. To get photo quality on a print that size, the file would take up hundreds of MB of space. To cover an 8-foot high wall 11 feet long would require 144 8x10's. At 2MB each (probably a low figure for photo quality 8x10) you are looking at a 290MB picture file.

Most computers are going to bog down trying to manipulate an image file that large, not to mention the fact that it will be difficult or impossible to get an enlargement from 1 35mm or even medium format to look decent at that size.

Not if you use the method I outlined. The original photograph stays the same size. Plot the cells using guides until you have a grid of each 8x10 that will be printed. Copy each cell and create a new document. Resize it to the proper size for printing an 8x10 and print.

steve817 · Jan 3, 2004

I think the printing software called "qimage" will do what you want. No it's not going to be as sharp as say an A4 but none of them are. Prints as large as you are wanting are not meant to be viewed up close. Any one in here ever stood a foot or two away from a billboard? They aren't that sharp either, but from the road they look great.

Steve